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Iran news

Iran to ban US citizens in response to Trump's immigration order

By Ralph Ellis - January 28, 2017Iran says it will ban all US citizens from entering the country in response to President Donald Trump's executive order limiting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, according to an Iranian Foreign Ministry statement published on state media Saturday.

Iran is among seven countries whose nationals are barred from entering the United States for 90 days under Trump's order.

"The US decision to restrict travel for Muslims to the US, even if for a temporary period of three months, is an obvious insult to the Islamic world and in particular to the great nation of Iran," the statement said.

"Despite the claims of combating terrorism and keeping American people safe, it will be recorded in history as a big gift to extremists and their supporters."
Iran's ban will remain in place until Trump's order is lifted, the statement said.

The other six countries listed in the executive order are Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Other nations may be added. The order exempts diplomats and members of international organizations from the ban.

The executive order also stops the admission of all refugees to the United States for four months.

‘This is not the first time that an inexperienced person has threatened Iran ... the American government will understand that threatening Iran is useless,’ says one Iranian official

US President Donald Trump is poised to impose new sanctions on multiple Iranian entities after a ballistic missile test that could be in contravention of a UN resolution, sources familiar with the matter have said.

Donald Trump tweeted yesterday that he had put Iran “on notice” over a ballistic missile test that could be in contravention of a UN resolution. He added that Tehran should have been “thankful” for the nuclear deal struck with the US and other world powers in 2015 as the country was on “its last legs”.

The warning appeared as an early manifestation of Mr Trump's promise of a tougher American approach to Iran, but it received an angry response in Tehran. Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi was quoted by state TV as saying: “Instead of thanking Iran for its continued fight against terrorism ... the American government is practically helping the terrorists by claims about Iran that are baseless, repetitive and provocative.”

Iran has been formally PUT ON NOTICE for firing a ballistic missile.Should have been thankful for the terrible deal the U.S. made with them! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2017

Iran was on its last legs and ready to collapse until the U.S. came along and gave it a life-line in the form of the Iran Deal: $150 billion — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2017

The President’s national security adviser, Michael Flynn, told reporters on Wednesday that the administration “condemns such actions by Iran that undermine security, prosperity and stability throughout and beyond the Middle East that puts American lives at risk”.

“The Obama administration failed to respond adequately to Tehran’s malign actions – including weapons transfers, support for terrorism and other violation of international norms,” he said.

The US and Israel claimed that Sunday’s test launch, the first by Iran since Mr Trump become President, was in breach of UN resolution 2231. The resolution, put in place days after the Iran nuclear deal was signed in 2015, calls on the Islamic Republic not to conduct such tests.

The missile test, occurred at a well-known site outside Semnan, about 140 miles east of Tehran. The Khorramshahr medium-range ballistic missile flew 600 miles before exploding, in a failed test of a reentry vehicle, US officials said.

Just before Mr Trump’s latest tweet, Iran said it had successfully test-fired the ballistic missile that the US said had exploded early, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

“The missile test on Sunday was successful ... the test was not a violation of a nuclear deal with world powers or any UN resolution,” defence minister Hossein Dehghan told Tasnim.
A top adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also said Iran will not yield to US threats over a recent ballistic missile test that was aimed at limiting its defence capabilities.

“This is not the first time that an inexperienced person [US President Donald Trump] has threatened Iran ... the American government will understand that threatening Iran is useless,” Ali Akbar Velayati was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars News Agency.

“Iran does not need permission from any country to defend itself.”

The warning from the US could foreshadow more aggressive economic and diplomatic measures against Iran.

Three senior US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters a range of options, including economic sanctions, were being considered and that a broad review was being conducted of the US posture toward Iran.

One official said the intent of Mr Flynn’s message was to make clear the administration would not be “shy or reticent” toward Tehran.

“We are in the process of evaluating the strategic options and the framework for how we want to approach these issues,” the official said. “We do not want to be premature or rash or take any action that would foreclose options or unnecessarily contribute to a negative response.

“Our sincere hope is that the Iranians will heed this notice today and will change their behaviour.”

Iran has test-fired several ballistic missiles since the nuclear deal in 2015, but the latest test was the first since Mr Trump became President.

Press Secretary Sean Spicer Falsely Accuses Iran of Attacking U.S. Navy Vessel, an Act of War

2.2.2017

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer asserted at Thursday’s press briefing that Iran had attacked a U.S. naval vessel, as part of his argument defending the administration’s bellicose announcement that Iran is “on notice.”

National Security Adviser Michael Flynn on Wednesday said he was “officially putting Iran on notice” following the country’s ballistic missile test and an attack on a Saudi naval vessel by Houthi rebels in Yemen (the Houthis are tenuously aligned with Iran’s government but are distinct from it).

The White House press corps wanted to know what being put “on notice” entailed, and Spicer responded by claiming that Iran’s government took actions against a U.S. naval vessel, which would be an act of war. “I think General Flynn was really clear yesterday that Iran has violated the Joint Resolution, that Iran’s additional hostile actions that it took against our Navy vessel are ones that we are very clear are not going to sit by and take,” he said. “I think that we will have further updates for you on those additional actions.”

Major Garrett of CBS News quietly corrected him, saying “a Saudi vessel,” and Spicer then responded almost inaudibly: “Sorry, thank you, yes a Saudi vessel. Yes, that’s right.” He did not in any way address his false claim that it was an Iranian attack, however.

Pentagon spokesman Christopher Sherwood confirmed to The Intercept that the attack was in fact conducted against a Saudi warship, and that the Pentagon suspects Houthi rebels. “It was a Saudi ship – it was actually a frigate” said Sherwood. “It was [conducted by] suspected Houthi rebels off the coast of Yemen.”

Fox News initially misreported that a U.S. ship was somehow the target — which is perhaps where some of the confusion in the White House originated

This, of course, is how American wars start. In the infamous 1964 “Gulf of Tonkin incident,” as it is often referred to, the White House and the Pentagon accused North Vietnamese forces of attacking two Navy destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin off Vietnam on August 4. President Lyndon Johnson used the attacks to coax Congress into approving a resolution, known as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, that authorized military action in Vietnam. As the New York Times noted a few years ago, the “attack never happened.”

And way back in February 1898, a U.S. warship, the Maine, was moored in Havana’s harbor when a huge explosion blew it apart, killing most of its crew. The explosion was blamed on Spain, and led to a rallying cry particularly in U.S. newspapers of “Remember the Maine!” In April of that year, the United States declared war on Spain, even though there was no proof of Spanish responsibility for the explosion, and much reason to doubt it. As the Washington Post reported, an official Navy inquiry concluded in the 1970s that “a mine or torpedo could not have been responsible for the blast. The likely cause was a coal bunker fire that ignited the ship’s magazine.”

The U.S. and Iran both have ships in the Gulf area. The U.S. dispatched ships to the Bab-el Mandeb strait off the coast of Yemen in October to reinforce a Saudi-led naval blockade that has devastated the country and left 14 million people going hungry. At the time, an anonymous government official told Fox News that “this is a show of force.” Later that month, after rockets fired from Houthi-controlled territory appeared to target a U.S. warship, the Obama administration authorized strikes on three radar sites in Western Yemen.

In early January, a U.S. Navy ship fired warning shots at Iranian vessels the Pentagon said were approaching it in the Strait of Hormuz, on the opposite side of the Arabian peninsula.

by Bethan McKernan -1 February 2017
The Iranian government will no longer use the US dollar in official statements or for financial reporting, local media has reported.

The governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Valiollah Seif, made the announcement on Friday, adding that the country would switch to another common foreign currency or a basket with a 'high degree of stability" for all financial and foreign exchange reports.

The decision will go into effect at the beginning of the new fiscal year in March.

The move comes in the wake of US President Donald Trump's temporary travel ban for citizens of Iran and six other Muslim countries, which has sparked outrage worldwide and the threat of retaliatory measures from several affected countries.
Iran has already taken the "reciprocal measure" of cancelling all future visas for visiting American citizens.

Relations were further tested by confirmation that Iran conducted a mid-range ballistic missile test over the weekend, which Iran's foe Israel called on the US to ensure "did not go unanswered."

The country's Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan reiterated on Wednesday earlier claims that the missile was not designed to carry nuclear warheads and therefore did not breach the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran does hardly any trade with the US thanks to decades of economic sanctions. The rial saw record lows against the dollar after Mr Trump's election victory, plunging to 41.600 to the dollar at the end of December.

It is unclear whether the Central Bank will now pick up the Euro or currencies of trade partners China, Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan or Iraq.
Iran's most important export - oil - is priced in US dollars, which could complicate the proposed changes. Exchanging currencies on expected oil revenues of $41 billion (£32 billion) this fiscal year could jeopardise earnings, analysts have said.

By: Darius Shahtahmasebi
The mainstream media has attempted to frame Donald J. Trump’s election victory as a sort of collusion between Russia and Trump — a scheme allegedly intended to promote an American president who would do Vladimir Putin’s bidding. But the truth is that there is one other country that stands to be the prime beneficiary of Trump’s reign as president: Israel.

Under the Obama administration, the United States had a curious relationship with Israel. In 2011, Obama vetoed a U.N. Security Council Resolution that would have condemned Israel’s settlement expansion. During Obama’s tenure, Israel’s settlement population rosefrom 100,000 to 600,000.According to Obama’s secretary of state, John Kerry, no administration in U.S. history has done more for Israel than Obama’s did:

“Our military exercises are more advanced than ever. Our assistance for Iron Dome has saved countless Israeli lives. We have consistently supported Israel’s right to defend itself by itself, including during actions [in] Gaza that sparked great controversy.”

“In the midst of our own financial crisis and budget deficits, we repeatedly increased funding to support Israel. In fact, more than 1/2 of our entire global foreign military financing goes to Israel. And this fall we concluded an historic $38 billion memorandum of understanding that exceeds any military assistance package the United States has provided to any country at any time.” [emphasis added]

However, on the surface, Obama appeared to be at odds with Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu over one key issue: Iran. The Iranian nuclear agreement reached in 2015 was heralded as a progressive move by some, but Israel completely rejected it and has refused to be bound by the agreement.

That being said, there is something Israel has done throughout Obama’s presidency that has barely attracted a blink from the U.N. Following the outbreak of war in Syria, Israel struck Syria multiple times (for example, during 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, etc).

Why is this important? Because Iran and Syria are bound by a mutual defense agreement. In fact, Israel assassinated an Iranian general in Syria in 2015 with little to no outrage from the international community.
...Where are we headed?

A war with Iran would be the end of the world as we know it. Iran has an enormous ground force, including countless volunteer militias who are experienced in repelling invaders (as Iraq found out the hard way in the 1980s.)

Nuclear powers Russia and China have warned the U.S. countless times not to attack Iran or Syria. Russia was clearly not making idle threats, as in 2015 they put their money where their mouth was and overtly intervened in the Syrian war to defend the Syrian government against U.S.-backed mercenaries. It is not clear if Russia has the ability — or the willpower — to finance another defensive effort in support of Iran, but what Russia has been adept at, in addition to relentlessly dropping bombs, is diplomacy. Take, for example, Obama’s failure to strike Syria in 2013 in part due to Russia’s diplomatic intervention.

China, on the other hand, is less likely to attempt diplomacy with Trump. A Chinese military official has already warned that a Chinese-U.S. war is becoming a “practical reality” under President Trump, and given Trump’s hardline approach to China, it wouldn’t be a stretch to predict who China would side with in this dispute. Further, a Chinese general already previously stated that China would defend Iran even if it meant “World War III.”

Additionally, NATO member Turkey has indicated it may seek to formally align itself with Russia and China, a move that could put Turkey in direct alliance with Iran considering Iran is also looking to formally join this Eurasian alliance.

When will this madness end? In the words of Noam Chomsky, the United States has been “torturing” Iran for 60 years. The intention to take out Iran is still on the table, even with the so-called “anti-establishment” candidate in office.

Thousands have taken to the streets in anti-government rallies across Iran

30 December, 2017

Protests over soaring prices and unemployment have spiralled into anti-government demonstrations across Iran, with the Trump administration condemning the arrest of peaceful protesters.

Fresh protests erupted in Iran on Friday with demonstrators frustrated over its struggling economy and alleged corruption marching on Tehran and other major cities.

Thousands have taken to the streets in anti-government rallies, in what is thought to be the biggest show of public defiance since 2009.

The protests come a day after demonstrations against rising food prices and inflation began in second city Mashhad, with authorities arresting 52 protesters over the unrest.

Now, it seems the topics of anger have turned to Iran's involvement in costly wars in the region including Syria and Iraq and the slow economic growth under President Hassan Rouhani, despite the lifting of international sanctions following the landmark 2015 nuclear deal.

Police dispersed anti-government demonstrators in the western city of Kermanshah as protests spread to Tehran, the semi-official news agency Fars said. An official said a few protesters had been arrested in the capital.

Footage posted on social media showed a heavy police presence as people chanted "Death to Rouhani". Some footage, which could not be authenticated, showed a water cannon and tear gas being used against protesters.

Others shouted "not Gaza, not Lebanon, my life for Iran" reflecting anger that the government is focusing too much on regional politics rather than tackling domestic problems.

There were also chants of "We don't want an Islamic Republic" as the unrest coincided with the easing of Islamic dress codes imposed on women in 1979 - seemingly an attempt to diffuse tensions.

Openly political protests are rare in Iran, where security forces have a heavy presence. The last unrest of national significance occurred in 2009 when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election as president ignited eight months of street protests. Pro-reform rivals said the vote was rigged.

The US State Department has expressed its support for the protests and condemned the arrest of peaceful demonstrators.

A strongly-worded statement on Friday said: "Iran's leaders have turned a wealthy country with a rich history and culture into an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed and chaos."

It added: "As President Trump has said, the longest-suffering victims of Iran's leaders are Iran's own people. We urge all nations to publicly support the Iranian people and their demands for basic rights and an end to corruption."

A man was hanged in front of cheering crowds in Iran after being convicted of the rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl which had outraged the nation. The execution of 42-year-old Esmail Jafarzadeh was shown in an amateur video shared on the state broadcaster’s website.

He was hanged at dawn in the square of the small northwestern town of Parsabad, in Ardebil province. The execution was held in public “to restore citizens’ sense of security and relieve their troubled minds,” Ardebil’s prosecutor Naser Atabati told reporters.
Seven-year-old Atena Aslani went missing on June 19 after walking away from her street vendor father, sparking huge concern on social media. Prosecutors said that Jafarzadeh, who was already the prime suspect, confessed to her rape and murder shortly after her body was found by police in the garage of his house, the judiciary-linked Mizan Online website reported.

President Hassan Rouhani described the case as “horrendous” and called for swift justice. It took less than a week to convict Jafarzadeh after his trial began in late August. His death sentence was confirmed by the supreme court on September 11. Parsabad’s public prosecutor Abdollah Tabatabayi later announced that Jafarzadeh had also confessed to the murder two years ago of a woman whose body was never found.

Iran does not provide official figures on executions, but human rights group Amnesty International says it was among the world’s top five executioners in 2016, with most of its hangings related to drug trafficking. Its Islamic penal code allows the families of murder victims to ask for “blood money” in lieu of execution.

Iran has also been horrified by the murder of an eight-month-old girl, who was in a car when it was stolen while her father opened the gates to their home in a Tehran suburb. She was found dead in the car six days later, and two men have been charged with murder. Iran’s parliament passed a long-awaited amendment to its drug laws in August, raising the thresholds that can trigger capital punishment and potentially sparing the lives of many on death row. The law has yet to be approved by the Guardian Council.

This is the Islamic justice where the trial is quick and the punishment is swift, public, and harsh. This is what keeps the peace, and deters others from doing such crimes. This, Islamic Shariah, is what the non-Muslim public demands when such crimes happen in their societies and the criminals are either let go or are given a nice comfortable jail with benefits (gym, tv, internet, doctors) that normal citizens don't even have.

US & Israel target Iran, Pakistan and other Muslim countries for their resources
5 Jan, 2018

Turkey’s leader has accused the US and Israel of meddling in the affairs of Iran and Pakistan, as well as those of other Muslim countries, and are driven by the desire to grab their natural resources.

“We cannot accept that some countries — foremost the US, Israel — to interfere [sic!] in the internal affairs of Iran and Pakistan,” Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul on Friday, AFP reports. On Tuesday President Donald Trump tweeted support for the protests “against the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime” which erupted last week.

While Erdogan did not elaborate on the US “interference” in Pakistan’s affairs, the remark is likely attributable to the US decision to withhold security funding from the country which would have amounted to over $1 billion. Washington accuses Islamabad of sheltering Taliban militants and of not taking “decisive actions against terrorism.”

The alleged US and Israeli interference is primarily driven by the desire to make “the plentiful underground riches in all these countries their own resources,” Erdogan claimed. The two countries, as well as other western states, target primarily Muslim nations, “turning the people [there] against each other,” he added. The disastrous results of such meddling can be seen in Syria, Iraq Palestine, Egypt and other countries, the president said.

“It's the same thing in Libya, Tunisia, Sudan and Chad. Countries where unrest is sown are Muslim countries. These countries have their wealth that belongs to them,” Erdogan said. “The whole humanity must know this and change its attitude.”

Erdogan’s statements echoed the official position of Tehran, which accused the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia of fueling protests in the country. Iran's Public Prosecutor Mohammad Jafar Montazeri said on Thursday that the “plot” to trigger unrest had been masterminded some four years ago by an American national and former CIA operative identified as Michael Andrea, along with an unnamed Mossad-affiliated agent. Saudi Arabia, according to the prosecutor, paid the expenses of the alleged plotters.

Also this week, Iran’s Ambassador to the UN, Gholamali Khoshroo, condemned the American administration’s “acts of intervention in a grotesque way in Iran's internal affairs.” Earlier this week, the US envoy to the UN called for an “urgent” UN Security Council (UNSC) to discuss the situation in Iran. The meeting is scheduled for Friday.

Russia has also denounced such calls as a blatant attempt to interfere into Iranian internal affairs. “The United States continues its policy of open and covert interference into the internal affairs of other states. Under the guise of concern about human rights and democracy, they directly attack the sovereignty of other nations,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Friday. Earlier this week, Russia’s Foreign Ministry warned against any external interference into Iran’s affairs calling an unacceptable move “which may destabilize the situation” further.